News of the Day From Across the Nation, Feb. 22

Chronicle News Services

Published 6:27 pm, Friday, February 21, 2014

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

News of the Day From Across the Nation, Feb. 22

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

1 Gay rights: Same-sex couples in Illinois' largest county began receiving marriage licenses immediately after a federal judge's ruling Friday. Illinois approved same-sex marriage last year, and the new law takes effect June 1. However, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ruled that same-sex marriages can begin immediately in Cook County, where Chicago is located. "There is no reason to delay further when no opposition has been presented to this Court and committed gay and lesbian couples have already suffered from the denial of their fundamental right to marry," she wrote in the order.

2Noose probe: A fraternity chapter at the University of Mississippi in Oxford has been indefinitely suspended by its national organization and three of its freshman members were kicked out because of their alleged involvement in hanging a noose on a statue of James Meredith, the first black student to enroll in the then all-white university in 1962. In a statement Friday, Sigma Phi Epsilon said it suspended the Alpha Chapter and the chapter voted to expel all three men and turn over their identities to investigators. The three have not been identified. Police on Sunday found the noose tied around the neck of the statue. The FBI said Friday it planned to expand its probe for potential violations of federal law.

3 Obama insult: Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Friday that Ted Nugent "rightly apologized" for degrading comments that resurfaced after Abbott welcomed the polarizing rocker to his campaign for governor. But in a statement Friday, the Republican didn't back away from inviting Nugent in the first place. He said "it's time to move beyond this." Nugent last month called President Obama a "subhuman mongrel." He apologized earlier Friday after Gov. Rick Perry and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., disavowed the remark.

4 Profane police: A small-town Pennsylvania police chief who gained notoriety for his profanity-laced Internet tirades about the Second Amendment and liberals has left the department - and could star in his own reality TV show. Gilberton officials reached a settlement with Mark Kessler that pays him $30,000 and considers him "voluntarily retired," according to a document released to the Associated Press through an open-records request Friday. Kessler, 42, who has spoken at gun-rights rallies around the country, said Friday that he has signed with a production company to develop his own, as-yet-untitled, reality show.

5 Paratrooper dies: A soldier with the Army's famed 82nd Airborne Division was killed Friday in an explosion during a live-fire training exercise at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. A statement from the division said two other soldiers were seriously hurt, while five others were treated for minor injuries and released from a hospital. Officials said there was "an incident" with a M777 howitzer. No identities were released, and the matter is under review.